They ended up with that split-screen of the King’s jersey burned live on his infomercial, as this sad, lost robot sat in a leafy suburban gymnasium with children as props and the world watching, those empty eyes masking a lost, dazed LeBron James(notes). This was the champagne shower for the Championship of Me, an exercise in self-aggrandizement and self-loathing that will have far-reaching implications for the NBA and James. What a spectacle, what a train wreck.

As the worst idea in the history of marketing unfolded, James looked trapped somewhere between despondence and defiance. His bumbling buddy Maverick Carter had walked him into the public execution of his legacy, his image, and there was a part of James that clearly wished he could turn back through the doors and hide. Only, it was too late. No going back now. James goes to the Miami Heat, Cleveland goes into a basketball Hades and LeBron’s legacy becomes that of a callous carpetbagger.

More From Adrian WojnarowskiState of LeBron: Live at 9, from his ego Jul 7, 2010 NBA stars know they better bank money now Jul 6, 2010 “His brand is [bleep] now,” one high-level NBA official said late Thursday. “He’s destroyed everything.”

The Championship of Me became the Championship of Flee, because LeBron James doesn’t believe he can be the centerpiece of a title team. He needed Dwayne Wade, a closer, far more than Wade needed him.

Yes, he’s ruined everything. What a wonderful idea: Divorce your childhood sweetheart on national television and tell her, hey, I’ll let you keep the “We are all Witnesses” billboards lording over downtown Cleveland.

“I’m taking my talents to South Beach,” James said, and it was like time stopped because – even for him – this was a moment so devoid of reality and free of concern of consequences. South Beach? He wasn’t picking a basketball team as much as a party. He’s 25 years old, and yet somehow this felt like a cloistered teenager picking a party school for college.

Yes, James will take his talent to South Beach and leave his soul in Cleveland. His hometown won’t hate him as much for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers as for the way he left them. Leaving never would’ve been easy, but he went out of his way to humiliate them. LeBron James can never go home now. He’s the Browns leaving town, The Fumble, The Shot, all rolled into one colossal disappointment.

Now, Clevelanders truly see it for themselves: He was a fan of the Cowboys, the Yankees – never the Browns and Indians. He was a frontrunner, and he just made the most frontrunner move in the history of the NBA. Off to Miami with Riles, D-Wade and Chris Bosh(notes).

New York would’ve been hard, and maybe Cleveland would’ve been the hardest. With those state tax laws in Florida, he isn’t taking less money with the Heat. He’s just taking less risk and less burden in his championship chase.

“This whole idea that he makes his own decisions, that [bleep] went out the window with this,” one NBA executive said. “Someday, he’s going to look back at this and not believe that he let those kids at LRMR talk him into doing this. This idea that he’s his own man … Come on, he’s a follower. And he’s following all the way to Miami now.”

This was the train rolling down the tracks from miles and miles away, and James never saw it coming. He should lose his obsession to become the richest athlete ever, because the people surrounding LeBron James are much more likely to leave him broke than a billionaire. Someday, he will fire his business manager Maverick Carter for turning the two-time MVP’s free-agent moment into Geraldo and Al Capone’s vault. Carter used the cover of charity for a historically horrible event and completely destroyed the credibility of his client.

So now people are cheering Dan Gilbert’s manifesto tearing apart James, but no one contributed more to what the world witnessed on Thursday night than the owner’s enabling of James and his inner circle for seven years. Gilbert is the biggest con going, a man who makes his fortune peddling mortgages, and he’ll make his next on casinos in downtown Cleveland. He sells illusions for a living, and now he’s selling the biggest of all: that he’s a victim here, that James betrayed everyone. That’s a lie, and no one ought to dare buy it.

Everyone searching for a scapegoat here – Mike Brown, Danny Ferry, Delonte West(notes) – well, just understand that it was the man screaming loudest with LeBron out the door, the man most determined to deflect blame onto him now.

Now, Gilbert is the tough guy with James leaving the Cavs behind? Listen, Ferry and Brown always warned Gilbert that giving James everything he wanted – giving it when and where and how – wouldn’t be the way they would keep him. LeBron didn’t respect them because they never demanded it.

Gilbert always believed he should do everything James wanted – hire his buddies into jobs, throw them on summer-league rosters, allow him to do those stupid pregame choreographed dances – that James would love him, that he would never leave. Only, James is a taker, and he took and took until he had bled Gilbert and that franchise to the bone.

So now, Gilbert unleashes the most revisionist and self-serving screed that a scorned owner’s ever done. Gilbert is a bully and a baby. As much as James, Gilbert revealed himself, too. He asked for this humiliation and deserves it. Only those fans in Cleveland don’t deserve this. They were loyal, true, and ultimately they must know Gilbert lashed out to make James the villain for a most self-serving reason: to avoid the blame himself. Damn right James quit on the Cavaliers in that playoff series, but that was because Gilbert was always there to make it easy for him. All those times Ferry and Brown warned the owner they had to make stands with James, that they had to force him to have some level of respect within that organization or there would be an ultimate price to pay.

And here it came on Thursday night, in this bizarre, sad set-up that turned LeBron James into a caricature. His puppet seems more human than him. Listen, James’ people tried to leak this story to soften the blow on Cleveland, but here was the problem: He’s so insincere, and they’re so over their heads, that most of us were uneasy with believing what they were selling in the hours leading up to Jim Gray holding everyone hostage. There had to be an agenda, a bait-and-switch, and yet source after source within LeBron’s world insisted: He’s leaving. He wants out. They had been doing this for weeks, even months. So, armed with that knowledge, why would they ever stage this event to rub it in the face of James’ hometown? Lots of stars have moved on, but never one that had such a unique history with a town, a city, a franchise.

We kept writing it with qualifiers because deep down a lot of us doubted his courage to leave that cocoon. He would make Cleveland feel like it had lost him, and then swoop back into town and be celebrated all over again. Only, LeBron’s people were telling the truth. He was gone. He was always gone. He never considered staying, and that’s the most frightening part of all.

For the hand-wringing out of Gilbert and James’ apologists who protected him – and who would still be protecting him had he simply said, “Cleveland,” on Thursday night – they need to stop with this nonsense that somehow LeBron James has transformed into someone else. This is him, and it’s always been him. He’s a creation of our times, of an industry and system that wants to manufacture the next M.J. at the expense of a young man having a sense of himself.

So there was LeBron James, the MVP, the man of the hour, sitting in the middle of his own “Truman Show” on Thursday night. His personal network ran his commercials and celebrated his greatness and let him hijack a platform to build his brand and break hearts. He can never go home again now, and he can never completely rebuild what he let his cast of buddies talk him into losing that night. He’s taking his talents to South Beach, and the kid going away for the first time will have some party down there. After all these years, it was clear he had been coddled and protected and ultimately prepared to do one thing: Take the easy way out. Wherever he was going, he looked conflicted, lost and completely confused.

What I wonder is, how bad is the endorsement stream going to be for the Queen? Will people quit buying his shoes or will it just be a blip in the radar? I know how it is going to be around here, but how is he going to be thought of in Idaho? Anyone who watched the Decision and isn't biased one way or the other, had to come away thinking he is a dumbshit, who is surrounded by dumbshit.

Between how the refs are viewed, and after the Queens showing his ass, what kind of hit will the league take? I am almost relegated to spending my dime on the Browns only, and am considering donating some change to the local high school athletic boosters. I have been avoiding spending money on the MLB for some time, and now am starting to get the same feelings about the NBA. It isn't just the Queen causing it, it is the whole package that is bothering me. It is becoming another version of the WWE, in my eyes.

They ended up with that split-screen of the King’s jersey burned live on his infomercial, as this sad, lost robot sat in a leafy suburban gymnasium with children as props and the world watching, those empty eyes masking a lost, dazed LeBron James(notes). This was the champagne shower for the Championship of Me, an exercise in self-aggrandizement and self-loathing that will have far-reaching implications for the NBA and James. What a spectacle, what a train wreck.

As the worst idea in the history of marketing unfolded, James looked trapped somewhere between despondence and defiance. His bumbling buddy Maverick Carter had walked him into the public execution of his legacy, his image, and there was a part of James that clearly wished he could turn back through the doors and hide. Only, it was too late. No going back now. James goes to the Miami Heat, Cleveland goes into a basketball Hades and LeBron’s legacy becomes that of a callous carpetbagger.

More From Adrian WojnarowskiState of LeBron: Live at 9, from his ego Jul 7, 2010 NBA stars know they better bank money now Jul 6, 2010 “His brand is [bleep] now,” one high-level NBA official said late Thursday. “He’s destroyed everything.”

The Championship of Me became the Championship of Flee, because LeBron James doesn’t believe he can be the centerpiece of a title team. He needed Dwayne Wade, a closer, far more than Wade needed him.

Yes, he’s ruined everything. What a wonderful idea: Divorce your childhood sweetheart on national television and tell her, hey, I’ll let you keep the “We are all Witnesses” billboards lording over downtown Cleveland.

“I’m taking my talents to South Beach,” James said, and it was like time stopped because – even for him – this was a moment so devoid of reality and free of concern of consequences. South Beach? He wasn’t picking a basketball team as much as a party. He’s 25 years old, and yet somehow this felt like a cloistered teenager picking a party school for college.

Yes, James will take his talent to South Beach and leave his soul in Cleveland. His hometown won’t hate him as much for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers as for the way he left them. Leaving never would’ve been easy, but he went out of his way to humiliate them. LeBron James can never go home now. He’s the Browns leaving town, The Fumble, The Shot, all rolled into one colossal disappointment.

Now, Clevelanders truly see it for themselves: He was a fan of the Cowboys, the Yankees – never the Browns and Indians. He was a frontrunner, and he just made the most frontrunner move in the history of the NBA. Off to Miami with Riles, D-Wade and Chris Bosh(notes).

New York would’ve been hard, and maybe Cleveland would’ve been the hardest. With those state tax laws in Florida, he isn’t taking less money with the Heat. He’s just taking less risk and less burden in his championship chase.

“This whole idea that he makes his own decisions, that [bleep] went out the window with this,” one NBA executive said. “Someday, he’s going to look back at this and not believe that he let those kids at LRMR talk him into doing this. This idea that he’s his own man … Come on, he’s a follower. And he’s following all the way to Miami now.”

This was the train rolling down the tracks from miles and miles away, and James never saw it coming. He should lose his obsession to become the richest athlete ever, because the people surrounding LeBron James are much more likely to leave him broke than a billionaire. Someday, he will fire his business manager Maverick Carter for turning the two-time MVP’s free-agent moment into Geraldo and Al Capone’s vault. Carter used the cover of charity for a historically horrible event and completely destroyed the credibility of his client.

So now people are cheering Dan Gilbert’s manifesto tearing apart James, but no one contributed more to what the world witnessed on Thursday night than the owner’s enabling of James and his inner circle for seven years. Gilbert is the biggest con going, a man who makes his fortune peddling mortgages, and he’ll make his next on casinos in downtown Cleveland. He sells illusions for a living, and now he’s selling the biggest of all: that he’s a victim here, that James betrayed everyone. That’s a lie, and no one ought to dare buy it.

Everyone searching for a scapegoat here – Mike Brown, Danny Ferry, Delonte West(notes) – well, just understand that it was the man screaming loudest with LeBron out the door, the man most determined to deflect blame onto him now.

Now, Gilbert is the tough guy with James leaving the Cavs behind? Listen, Ferry and Brown always warned Gilbert that giving James everything he wanted – giving it when and where and how – wouldn’t be the way they would keep him. LeBron didn’t respect them because they never demanded it.

Gilbert always believed he should do everything James wanted – hire his buddies into jobs, throw them on summer-league rosters, allow him to do those stupid pregame choreographed dances – that James would love him, that he would never leave. Only, James is a taker, and he took and took until he had bled Gilbert and that franchise to the bone.

So now, Gilbert unleashes the most revisionist and self-serving screed that a scorned owner’s ever done. Gilbert is a bully and a baby. As much as James, Gilbert revealed himself, too. He asked for this humiliation and deserves it. Only those fans in Cleveland don’t deserve this. They were loyal, true, and ultimately they must know Gilbert lashed out to make James the villain for a most self-serving reason: to avoid the blame himself. Damn right James quit on the Cavaliers in that playoff series, but that was because Gilbert was always there to make it easy for him. All those times Ferry and Brown warned the owner they had to make stands with James, that they had to force him to have some level of respect within that organization or there would be an ultimate price to pay.

And here it came on Thursday night, in this bizarre, sad set-up that turned LeBron James into a caricature. His puppet seems more human than him. Listen, James’ people tried to leak this story to soften the blow on Cleveland, but here was the problem: He’s so insincere, and they’re so over their heads, that most of us were uneasy with believing what they were selling in the hours leading up to Jim Gray holding everyone hostage. There had to be an agenda, a bait-and-switch, and yet source after source within LeBron’s world insisted: He’s leaving. He wants out. They had been doing this for weeks, even months. So, armed with that knowledge, why would they ever stage this event to rub it in the face of James’ hometown? Lots of stars have moved on, but never one that had such a unique history with a town, a city, a franchise.

We kept writing it with qualifiers because deep down a lot of us doubted his courage to leave that cocoon. He would make Cleveland feel like it had lost him, and then swoop back into town and be celebrated all over again. Only, LeBron’s people were telling the truth. He was gone. He was always gone. He never considered staying, and that’s the most frightening part of all.

For the hand-wringing out of Gilbert and James’ apologists who protected him – and who would still be protecting him had he simply said, “Cleveland,” on Thursday night – they need to stop with this nonsense that somehow LeBron James has transformed into someone else. This is him, and it’s always been him. He’s a creation of our times, of an industry and system that wants to manufacture the next M.J. at the expense of a young man having a sense of himself.

So there was LeBron James, the MVP, the man of the hour, sitting in the middle of his own “Truman Show” on Thursday night. His personal network ran his commercials and celebrated his greatness and let him hijack a platform to build his brand and break hearts. He can never go home again now, and he can never completely rebuild what he let his cast of buddies talk him into losing that night. He’s taking his talents to South Beach, and the kid going away for the first time will have some party down there. After all these years, it was clear he had been coddled and protected and ultimately prepared to do one thing: Take the easy way out. Wherever he was going, he looked conflicted, lost and completely confused.

What a spectacle, what a train wreck.

What a shame.

SD:

To those who have wisdom herein the question.

"""At what profit Does man gain the World and lose his immortal Soul"""

Woj has been killing it this entire free agent period. he wasn't chasing the sources passing of guesses as fact, but just using common sense to figure out what would happen. And realizing what it all meant to the big picture.

While we're all sucking Woj's crank here, let us come up for air momentarily and realize that he was out front and center slapping gobs of clay onto this Golem.

For the last two years he's been cranking out speculation- LeBron to New York, LeBron to Brooklyn, LeBron to the Clippers, LeBron to Dallas, LeBron to Detroit, LeBron to Fairbanks to play in a 20,000-seat igloo that will be finished by the summer of 2010.

And now that this monster he helped create has gotten too big for him to control, he's shaking his fists at it in condemnation.

Woj is a talented writer. I'd go so far as to say he's a gifted writer. But if he wants to yank the mote out of Dan Gilbert's eye, he should start with the mote stuck in his own.

hermanfontenot wrote:While we're all sucking Woj's crank here, let us come up for air momentarily and realize that he was out front and center slapping gobs of clay onto this Golem.

For the last two years he's been cranking out speculation- LeBron to New York, LeBron to Brooklyn, LeBron to the Clippers, LeBron to Dallas, LeBron to Detroit, LeBron to Fairbanks to play in a 20,000-seat igloo that will be finished by the summer of 2010.

And now that this monster he helped create has gotten too big for him to control, he's shaking his fists at it in condemnation.

Woj is a talented writer. I'd go so far as to say he's a gifted writer. But if he wants to yank the mote out of Dan Gilbert's eye, he should start with the mote stuck in his own.

e0y2e3 wrote:But he's a national writer so all you care about is hating on him Herm. So goes the agenda.

At least my takes are mine, Eeyore, foolish or not. I don't cut and paste from Ric Bucher's twitter feed or regurgitate Bill Simmons like some people do.

Ha, word Herm.

I had an articulate desecration of Gilbert being a petulant bitch up last night before the smoke had even settled and I've written more words about how to build an NBA team in here then you have ever thought.

But that hate and blind inability to conjure up a thought beyond "Everyone Outside Of Ohio Is Mean" is some damned fine writing.

You should stick to writing about the 1971 NFL season, it's a much better forum for your incomprehensible lack of logic or thought.

hermanfontenot wrote:While we're all sucking Woj's crank here, let us come up for air momentarily and realize that he was out front and center slapping gobs of clay onto this Golem.

For the last two years he's been cranking out speculation- LeBron to New York, LeBron to Brooklyn, LeBron to the Clippers, LeBron to Dallas, LeBron to Detroit, LeBron to Fairbanks to play in a 20,000-seat igloo that will be finished by the summer of 2010.

And now that this monster he helped create has gotten too big for him to control, he's shaking his fists at it in condemnation.

Woj is a talented writer. I'd go so far as to say he's a gifted writer. But if he wants to yank the mote out of Dan Gilbert's eye, he should start with the mote stuck in his own.

Putting the pieces together a bit more, Woj's attitude towards Bron took a serious turn for the negative around the time it became apparent that WWWes (an obvious Woj source) wasn't gonna be the shot caller on this deal.

One man's hard-hitting journalism is another man's being pissed off about his source not being placed well enough.

If it flies, floats, or fornicates, always rent it -- it's cheaper in the long run.

Not true at all, Woj ripped the living shit out of LBJ during the playoffs. Ripped him to pieces and was linked here every single time. Most vicious playoff pieces after the Boston series came from Woj and Dwyer. Woj also went apeshit when Ferry was canned because it was another sign of Gilbert catering to LBJ.

DiminishingSkills wrote:Putting the pieces together a bit more, Woj's attitude towards Bron took a serious turn for the negative around the time it became apparent that WWWes (an obvious Woj source) wasn't gonna be the shot caller on this deal.

One man's hard-hitting journalism is another man's being pissed off about his source not being placed well enough.

Thought WWW was pushed out only recently. Woj mercilessly hammered LBJ on the Boston series.

I know more about pizza than you. Much more in fact. - Cerebral_DownTime

hermanfontenot wrote:I'll amend a little bit, Eeyore. I don't think pulling up your skirt and running from this forum only to crawl back later was Ric Bucher's idea.

:)

Not worth arguing w/ morons Herm. I said all along when the noise to signal ratio was fixed I'd be back, I just figured Tree, SD, Pros and the other idiots would ride out all of FA, not hide and show up the day LBJ signed.

How about that Don Coryell offense though, got a dissertation on that to titillate us with?

e0y2e3 wrote:How about that Don Coryell offense though, got a dissertation on that to titillate us with?

Actually, Eeyore, I was thinking about a 2,000-word piece on why the Falcons shouldn't have fired Leeman Bennett after the 1982 season. I'll see if I can get that in before the next time you pretend nobody told you to hate Peyton Manning or swing from Kevin Durant's nuts.

e0y2e3 wrote:How about that Don Coryell offense though, got a dissertation on that to titillate us with?

Actually, Eeyore, I was thinking about a 2,000-word piece on why the Falcons shouldn't have fired Leeman Bennett after the 1982 season. I'll see if I can get that in before the next time you pretend nobody told you to hate Peyton Manning or swing from Kevin Durant's nuts.

I'll be eagerly waiting for it. Should come right after your next 2,000 "EVERYONE HATES CLEVELAND" posts.

I just don't see anyone outside of florida rocking his jersey (again, even the Akron Honks have disowned him), no ones going to want to buy his shoes, drink coke, or whatever.

He's really taken all the credibility that he could have possibly ever had, and sent it right down the crapper.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

My question is how long will all of the NBA Fans continue to share Cleveland Fan's passion and pain once those three start putting together beautiful music on the court? I hope the memory stands but deep down I think that all outsiders will replace disgust w/ awe, especially if that on the court music isn't enough to threaten for a title for a year or two.

e0y2e3 wrote:My question is how long will all of the NBA Fans continue to share Cleveland Fan's passion and pain once those three start putting together beautiful music on the court? I hope the memory stands but deep down I think that all outsiders will replace disgust w/ awe, especially if that on the court music isn't enough to threaten for a title for a year or two.

Pro rasslin'.

Bad guys to lakers and Celtics old school purity.

Hip hop nation and espn will love them. Major love hate thing.

But for precident, look at the B mre ravens. the nation will get over it. you are already over it.

i'll never get over it.

Last edited by jb on Fri Jul 09, 2010 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Probably about as long as the "poor seattle" thing lasted after the Sonics left. Their team was gutted and moved, but then they got a bunch of young guys who started to win. Granted, they are a likable bunch, but still... winning cures a lot.

e0y2e3 wrote:My question is how long will all of the NBA Fans continue to share Cleveland Fan's passion and pain once those three start putting together beautiful music on the court? I hope the memory stands but deep down I think that all outsiders will replace disgust w/ awe, especially if that on the court music isn't enough to threaten for a title for a year or two.

I think Knick/Net fan is pissed, as he did tease them quite often, and they were left with nothing but an aging Amare, don't think that will be forgotten.

Chicago-fan will not care as much, they have Rose and if anything it just kick starts a new rivalry with the Heat

LA fan just will laugh at LBJ like they've always done, and point at Kobe's rings.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

e0y2e3 wrote:My question is how long will all of the NBA Fans continue to share Cleveland Fan's passion and pain once those three start putting together beautiful music on the court? I hope the memory stands but deep down I think that all outsiders will replace disgust w/ awe, especially if that on the court music isn't enough to threaten for a title for a year or two.

I think Knick/Net fan is pissed, as he did tease them quite often, and they were left with nothing but an aging Amare, don't think that will be forgotten.

Chicago-fan will not care as much, they have Rose and if anything it just kick starts a new rivalry with the Heat

LA fan just will laugh at LBJ like they've always done, and point at Kobe's rings.

CP wrote:Knick fans have their own loathing to worry about, particularly when they suck. They feel they had more of a right to James than we did, so I don't think they care.

It was amazing watching the good NY reporters last night beg NYC to STFU w/ the whining because they had no right to be pissed and act like they were Cleveland. Cleveland got knifed, NYC knifed themselves w/ their botched plan. Howard Beck of the Time was pretty much begging them to stop whining like Herm after a charge call in the playoffs.

e0y2e3 wrote:No clue where to put this, but that gutless fuçk paid Jim Grey on his own.

CNBC just broke that Grey was brought in and paid by LBJ, not ESPN.

It just keeps getting better. Pay off a guy to toss you softballs, and you strikeout looking. In 16 hours, everything this guy touches turns to shit. Even the B&G Club looks bad in this. Amazing.

I just wanted one series of questions:

"LeBron, how do you explain your performance in the Boston series? Don't you think that if you had played nearly up to par the Cavs team that Gilbert/Ferry had assembled would have won you your cherished ring? And then you wouldn't have to blame the Cavs franchise which had done its job, only to not have you do yours. And then you wouldn't have to go chasing rings elsewhere?"

No wonder he paid for the interviewer. Just one more spineless, gutless move.

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

But for precident, look at the B mre ravens. the nation will get over it. you are already over it.

i'll never get over it.

I don't understand the "bad boys" label, like how the Heat fans were all claiming.

I could see if this was a team set up like Pre-Senile Al Davis Raiders/ 80's Canes/70's Flyers/Bad Boy Pistons. Those guys earned their rep with how they played, being almost border dirty at time.

This hate is completely different to me, it's more of like sort of a sense of snobbery than anything.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.